Who is the Worst Sinner You Know?

Paul never lost the wonder of the gospel of God’s grace to him. Even after 30+ years of walking with Christ and serving as the lead apostle among the Gentiles, he remained blown away by the fact that God had saved him. In 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Paul recounts his testimony of how the grace of God transformed his life. Before Christ stopped him on the road to Damascus he “was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor” (1:13). But the grace of God was more than sufficient to save him, since “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1:15).

At this point Paul makes a surprising statement. We might expect Paul to continue his thought by saying “among whom I WAS the foremost.” Given his life before Christ, who could argue? He was a persecutor of the church and a blasphemer! But instead Paul says “among whom I AM the foremost” (1:15). In other words, Paul thinks of himself currently as the “foremost of sinners.” It is not merely a description of his former life, but a statement of his current experience.

So how could Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, think of himself as the foremost of sinners after 30+ years of walking with Christ? I believe the answer rests in his self-understanding and his God-understanding. Paul knew the mixture of his motives, the impurity of his desires, the extent of his failure to love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. As he grew in his understanding of God he progressively saw the depths of his sin in ways he never appreciated. Combined with his growing understanding of the perfections of God in Christ his sin became increasingly odious to him.

Who came to mind when you saw the title of this post? Did you think of a mass murderer? A child molestor? Osama bin Laden? Hitler? I am becoming convinced that the biblical answer to that question for every single person is “me.” Sure, I haven’t committed the outward acts that would lead others to call me the worst sinner they know. But when we recall Jesus’ exposition of the Law in Matthew 5–6, I reach a different conclusion. I am guilty in my heart of the very sins that Jesus describes. Even my best actions are tainted by sinful motivations, many of which I do not even fully recognize or appreciate.

I am convinced that one of the marks of growth in holiness is paradoxically a growing awareness of the depth and extent of our sinfulness. As the Spirit continues his work in our lives, he exposes the idolatry in our lives in all its various forms. But he does this to cause us to abandon those idols and instead cling to Christ. And that is why we need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily.

3 thoughts on “Who is the Worst Sinner You Know?”

1) To be picky, I think we need to admit that strictly exegetically speaking, Paul isn’t telling us to say this. I think this is more reading between the lines than exegeting the passage itself. OK, nitpick over.

2) The heart attitude that this implies is right on. The parable of the Pharisee and the sinner, the parable of the prodigal son – in both cases there is a person who looks down on the sin of others in contrast to a sinner who simply asks for mercy.

When we are broken and see the magnitude of our sin we don’t point fingers at how bad other people are. When we feel the fresh winds of forgiveness we don’t immediately turn and condemn someone else. I take that to be the attitude behind “I am the worst sinner I know.”

I’ve always wondered if heaven will be a grand contrast to the disciples before Christ’s crucifixion. Just before He lays down His life for them, in their pride, they debate who among them is truly the greatest. (I would have totally joined that debate.)

However, could it be possible that one of the ways we will bring glory to Christ in heaven is by debating with one another (not in pride, but in humility) who was truly the greatest of sinners.

Perhaps in eternity, there may not be debate. In that case, our listen to your case for why you were the worst of sinners, politely nod along, all the while thinking, “Man does Harmon have it wrong. He has no idea what a wretched man I was.”

Praying that the Lord will continue to generate and grow that kind of humility in me before glorification!